When ADHD Is Rebranded as “Poor Performance” at Work
- Anne Marie the AntiHR Lady
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
(ADA, Neurodivergence, Misclassification, and Discipline)
There is a quiet but very deliberate shift happening in workplaces right now.
Instead of acknowledging neurodivergence — particularly ADHD in adults — employers are increasingly rebranding disability-related challenges as “performance issues.” Once that happens, the legal protections disappear on paper, even though the disability has not disappeared in real life.
This blog post is about how that sleight of hand works, why it is happening more often, and what employees need to do before they are disciplined out of a job under the guise of “poor performance.”
ADHD at Work: What Employers Don’t Say Out Loud
ADHD doesn’t magically stop existing once you become an adult, earn a degree, or get promoted. But many employers still treat ADHD as:
a childhood issue
a personal failing
a time-management problem
a motivation problem
Instead of what it actually is: a neurodevelopmental disability that affects executive functioning — including focus, prioritization, task initiation, memory, and processing speed.
Here’s the problem:Most workplaces are not built for neurodivergent brains, yet they demand constant productivity, rapid response times, and vague performance expectations.
So when an employee with ADHD struggles, employers don’t ask why.They skip straight to discipline.
The ADA Problem Most Employees Don’t See Coming
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ADHD can qualify as a disability if it substantially limits one or more major life activities, including concentrating, thinking, or working.
But here’s the catch most people miss:
The ADA does not protect you automatically. .Protection is triggered through knowledge and process — not diagnosis alone.
That gap is exactly where employers operate.
How Employers Rebrand ADHD as “Poor Performance”
Instead of addressing disability, employers often:
Avoid asking about accommodations
Ignore disclosure cues
Document “missed deadlines” without context
Label executive-function challenges as “carelessness”
Push employees into Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)
Discipline first, ask questions never
By the time the employee realizes what’s happening, the paper trail already tells a story — and it’s not a disability story.
Misclassification Is Not Accidental
Let’s be clear: this isn’t confusion.
Misclassifying disability-related behavior as misconduct or poor performance reduces employer risk — for them.
When ADHD is framed as performance failure:
Accommodation obligations are delayed or avoided
Termination appears “objective”
Legal exposure is minimized
HR can say, “We treated everyone the same”
Uniform treatment sounds fair — until you remember that equity is not sameness, and the ADA requires individualized assessment.
Why Neurodivergent Employees Are Especially Vulnerable Right Now
This tactic has escalated due to:
Remote and hybrid work surveillance
Productivity metrics replacing human evaluation
Shrinking HR departments
Managers with zero ADA training
Increased hostility toward “invisible” disabilities
And let’s be honest:Black employees, women, and older workers are far more likely to be viewed as “deficient” rather than “disabled.” Bias fills the gaps where education should exist.
Discipline Is Often the First Legal Violation
Here’s something many employees don’t realize until it’s too late:
Discipline that happens before the interactive accommodation process can itself violate the ADA.
If an employer knows — or reasonably should know — that ADHD may be involved, they are supposed to:
Pause discipline
Engage in an interactive process
Explore reasonable accommodations
Skipping those steps and jumping straight to punishment is not neutral. It’s strategic.
What Reasonable Accommodations for ADHD Can Look Like
ADHD accommodations are often simple and low-cost, which makes employer resistance even more telling.
Examples include:
Written instructions instead of verbal-only tasks
Clear prioritization of duties
Deadline clarification
Task chunking
Flexible scheduling
Reduced interruptions
Project management tools
Meeting agendas and summaries
When employers claim these are “undue hardships,” that claim often collapses under scrutiny.
⚠️ Before You Go to HR: Stop and Get Grounded
Many employees with ADHD are told — explicitly or implicitly — that going to HR will “fix it.”
That is not how this works.
If HR becomes aware of ADHD after months of negative documentation, they are not starting from neutral. They are starting from defense.
Start Here Instead
📘 Before You Go to HR: A Reality Check for Employees in Hostile Workplaces This is a free download when you subscribe to my website, and it walks you through:
what HR is legally obligated to do
what they are not obligated to do
how timing matters
how disclosure without strategy can backfire
This is especially critical for employees with invisible disabilities like ADHD.
Documentation Is Your Leverage — Not HR’s
If ADHD-related issues are being reframed as performance failures, documentation is how you reclaim the narrative.
That means:
saving emails
confirming verbal instructions in writing
documenting shifting expectations
tracking workload vs time
noting denied or ignored accommodation requests
🗂️ This is exactly why I created The AntiHR Documentation Journal — to help employees document strategically, not emotionally, and in a way that supports leverage, not venting.
When Documentation Confirms Violations, Strategy Changes
Once you can see the pattern clearly — and many people do once they start documenting — the question becomes:
Do I want to stay here… or do I want to leave on my terms?
Get the Anti Documentation Journal HERE
That’s where the AntiHR Exit Strategy System comes in.
This system is designed for employees who:
know (or strongly suspect) their ADA rights have been violated
are being disciplined instead of supported
want to negotiate an exit with severance, not resign quietly
Because when you quit, employers pay nothing — and face no accountability.
Get the Exit Strategy System HERE
Why This Conversation Doesn’t End With One Blog Post
Understanding how ADHD is misclassified as “poor performance” is not a one-time lesson.
Workplaces shift.Managers change.Pressure escalates quietly — and often quickly.
That’s exactly why the AntiHR Membership Community exists.
The community is where these conversations continue beyond a single blog post or video — with space to talk through real workplace scenarios as they unfold, not just in hindsight.
Inside the AntiHR Membership Community, members get:
Ongoing education around ADA, FMLA, discrimination, and retaliation
Context for how these laws are actually applied (and violated) in real workplaces
A space to ask strategic questions before mistakes are made
Access to replays, tools, and resources without scrambling when things escalate
This isn’t about motivation or corporate wellness talk. It’s about being prepared before discipline, documentation, or disclosure puts you at a disadvantage.
If you’re dealing with ADHD, another invisible disability, or a workplace that’s already reframing your challenges as performance problems — this is not something you should be navigating alone.
👉 Join the AntiHR Membership Community and give yourself access to information, strategy, and support that keeps pace with what’s actually happening at work.
Final Word
ADHD does not become “poor performance” just because an employer labels it that way.
But if you don’t intervene early, strategically, and in writing, that label can become permanent — and expensive.
Do not assume HR will protect you.Do not assume good intent equals legal compliance.And do not wait until discipline escalates to figure out your rights.
Information first. Strategy second.Movement only after that.
For more tips about navigating and escaping difficult HR situations:
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HR is not your enemy, but they are definitely not your friend.